Data & Privacy Issues And 'The Internet of Things'

Strong governance and regulations will be vital in ensuring that the so called ‘ Internet of Things’ (IoT) meets its full potential, says a leading lawyer at national law firm Irwin Mitchell.

Speaking at a roundtable debate hosted by data warehousing firm Teradata, Irwin Mitchell’s Joanne Bone said that it is vital that in order for the IoT to develop successfully, personal data must be kept safe and within an individual's control.

She echoed the views of the other panellists that transparency is crucial. Discussing future legislation in this area, Joanne said: "I think very broad privacy policies are going to become a thing of the past because one of the big things from the new EU data protection regulation, is the emphasis on clarity and transparency."

In addition to ensuring that future privacy and data laws are transparent and not overly complicated, Joanne said that British companies will still be subject to European data protection legislation - even if it leaves the EU.

She said: "The legislation has extra-territorial jurisdiction built into it so if you monitor the behaviour or collect personal data relating to an EU citizen, you will be caught by it wherever you are.

"So if you are in the UK, even if we are out of the EU, if you are trading with Europe in any way, then potentially it won't make any difference whether we are in or out. I don't think there are that many businesses these days that are just UK data focused, so I suspect coming out of the EU will have some impact but not a massive impact."

To read more about the roundtable, click on the following links here and here

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